Lens hoods advice

[rdenney]

Remember that not getting the shot because you are dicking around with the shade is the lowest contrast image of all ;-p

Here is an old set-up using a beater Hasselblad shade set upside down so the arms wouldn't hit the camera. A cheap compromise that was still sturdy, fast, and effective for most situations. You could knob out the shade while looking through the ground glass and it wasn't prone to getting knocked around by the wind too much. Probably not ideal with a larger lensboard (like a big monorail) or shallow, wide-angle lenses.

That setup is actually quite excellent, and better than nearly any screw-in shade. It's certainly on a par with the Lee shade. I wouldn't say it's for-sure less fiddly than the camera maker's purpose-built compendium shade, but it is certainly less fiddly than some.

As I said at the beginning of my first post: Any shade is better than no shade. Even the shade of a fortuitously placed tree. The most damaging flare comes from strong light sources outside the frame shining directly onto the front of the glass. Preventing that accomplishes a big chunk of what is possible.

Rick "who has made plenty of photos using a dark-slide or hand shade" Denney

[rdenney]

One benefit you appear to get from the one on the right is no reflection from oblique rays hitting the interior surface of the shade.

Good point, and this is a particular problem with the large CZJ shade. It's black on the inside, but quite shiny. I've lined mine with flocking paper and that solved the problem. Many shades are flocked, and many are ridged to simulate baffles, though the ridges are often rounded enough to be only partly effective. Most seem to be painted with ultra-flat black paint, but flocking is better.

Rick "who bought a sheet of self-stick flocking paper from Edmunds a long time ago for such projects" Denney

[MWitmann]

Remember that not getting the shot because you are dicking around with the shade is the lowest contrast image of all ;-p

Here is an old set-up using a beater Hasselblad shade set upside down so the arms wouldn't hit the camera. A cheap compromise that was still sturdy, fast, and effective for most situations. You could knob out the shade while looking through the ground glass and it wasn't prone to getting knocked around by the wind too much. Probably not ideal with a larger lensboard (like a big monorail) or shallow, wide-angle lenses.

Thank you Frank (and to others) for the replies.

I'll really try to not dicking around too much...with hoods or other gear... But seeing my setup putted togheter make me notice that there are so many things with which you really can dicking around )

I've ordered few wide, metal cheap hoods, but i've kept in mind also the Lee system, maybe for the future.

But what about this: Voss Gelatin Filter Holder (with barns) ?

[Frank Petronio]

Those are great in the calm, or in a studio. They get blown around in the wind, but I used to use them often because they were a lot better than simply taping gelatin filters onto the lenses like most pros did (in the day).